It'll be here before we know it, and I'm sure most of you (like me) probably aren't quite ready for Christmas just yet. I'm not completely ready, as I am still working on my order and filling in my spare time with Christmas knitting, but I know that at least one person will receive an unfinished gift. It'll probably be Husband...
Over the last few days, I've made 2 sets of French Press Felted Slippers (pattern is available for purchase here), as well as Grumpy, a free download from KnitPicks.com. Someone is actually going to receive Grumpy as their Christmas gift.
As a knitter, I usually find people making comments such as, "Oh, I saw this ___ and thought I'd pass on buying it. You can make that, right? Because I'd really like one..." and "Well that looks pretty easy. Isn't it kind of cheap to make all your gifts, though?" And in that case, "cheap" is not intended to mean "inexpensive." My favorite comment of all time, however, was made by a girl on my floor in college. She saw me knitting scarves (because I was broke and needed something to give for Christmas to my family members) and asked me how much I would charge for one. When I told her my price, which was actually far too low for the amount of work involved, she scoffed at me and almost exclaimed, "I can get one at WalMart for less than that!" My response? "Go ahead. You clearly don't deserve the time and effort it takes for me to make one..."
When people make comments like what I've shared above, it makes me think about how knit-worthy they really are...or aren't. Just because I am capable of making something that someone likes does not mean that I will make that item for that person. In fact, it makes me even less likely to make them anything.
I mean, let's really think about it for a minute or two. How much time does the average shopper spend in lines at stores on Black Friday, fighting crowds of unreasonable size and strength, just to snag something mass-produced at a next-to-nothing price for someone on their giving list, while someone else is probably buying that same gift for that same person?
My Christmas shopping happens when I want it to, at JoAnn Fabrics, my local yarn shops, and the supermarket. The construction of my one-of-a-kind, made-just-for-you gifts are very time-consuming, and sometimes extremely labor-intensive, often taking far more time and effort than Black Friday shopping. The difference is, though, that my hand-made or home-baked gifts are appreciated by the recipients more than a store-bought item would be. Why? Because I made it for that person, and nobody else.
The folks that consistently receive hand-made gifts from me know what goes into them, and they know that my time is just as valuable, if not more so, as my money.
The folks that consistently do not receive hand-made gifts from me do not receive them because they don't have a clue what goes into making them.
Pregnant women seem to expect that I will make them something for their baby. Well, I hate to break it to them, but that is not the case. Being pregnant doesn't entitle one to masses of hand-made gifts, especially when Pregnant has mentioned that she would like "this list of things" for her child. I would like all my debts paid off. Guess who gets to do that? Husband and me--nobody else. We don't always get what we want, but sometimes we get what we need...
...like a lump of coal...
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